Hair Extension and Method for Hair Extension

ABSTRACT

A hair extension strip includes a hollow hair extension strip end piece and a number of extension hair strands that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece. The hair extension strip end piece comprises a hair extension hollow tube having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length. The hair extension strip is made by a process comprising steps of aligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands; applying melted thermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands, removing excess thermoplastic resin, forming a hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hair strands around a centering rod, and cooling the hair extension strip end piece with the hair strands embedded.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority on Provisional Application No.61/062,248 filed on Jan. 24, 2008 by the applicant, the disclosure ofwhich is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Hair extension is used for providing decorating effect to a humanbeing's hair, such as long, curled, straight or different-colored hair.Hair extension requires attaching a number of decorative hair strands toa customer's natural hair. Decorative hair strands are provided in aform of hair strips and the hair strips are attached to the customer'shair by gluing. Prior art hair extension strips and methods forattaching the hair strips have disadvantages that long time is requiredto attach the hair strips since placing and holding the customer's hairand extension hair together is difficult and; handling the glue isdifficult and dangerous; and the bonding between the natural hair andthe decorative hair is not uniform.

There has long been a need for hair extension strips and method that canprovide more natural decorative effect and requires less time consumingand safe attaching process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a decorative hair strip thatprovides a natural and firm hair extension.

Another object of the invention is to provide a method for attaching thedecorative hair strip to a customer's hair.

In order to achieve the objects, the present invention provides a hairextension strip comprising a hollow hair extension strip end piece and apredetermined number of extension hair strands that are embedded in thehair extension strip end piece.

The hair extension strip end piece is made of thermoplastic resin.

The hair extension strip end piece comprises a hair extension hollowtube having predetermined inner diameter and predetermined length.

The predetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜inch.

The predetermined length is from about 1/16 to about ½ inch. Thepredetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450.

The hair extension strip that is made by a process comprising steps ofaligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands, applying meltedthermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands, forminga hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hair strandsaround a centering rod and cooling the hair extension strip end piecewith the hair strands embedded.

The centering rod is circular and has a predetermined diameter, which isfrom about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.

The method further comprises step of removing excess thermoplastic resinso that the amount of thermoplastic resin applied on the ends of thehair strands is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a hair extension strip according tothe present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial enlarged view showing an end piece of the hairextension strip and hair strands embedded in the end piece.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing the step of aligning hair strands.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing the step of heating for forming ahair strip end piece.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the extension hair strip end piecethus formed.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of the extension hair strip end pieceshowing hair strands embedded therein.

FIG. 7 is a partial elevation view of a centering rod.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a hair extension tool that is used toattach the hair extension strip to a customer's hair.

FIG. 9 is a schematic view showing a method of attaching the decorativehair extension strip to a customer's hair.

FIG. 10 a is a schematic elevation view showing step of applyingthermoplastic resin.

FIG. 10 b is a perspective view showing step of removing excess resin.

FIG. 10 c is a schematic elevation view showing step of forming a hairstrip end piece.

FIG. 10 d is a schematic perspective view showing the hair strip endpiece.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 shows a hair extension strip 10 comprising a hollow hairextension strip end piece 12 and a predetermined number of extensionhair strands 14 that are embedded in the hair extension strip end piece12.

The hair extension strip end piece 12 is made of thermoplastic resin oradhesive.

FIG. 2 shows that the hair extension strip end piece 12 comprises a hairextension hollow tube 16 having predetermined inner diameter andpredetermined length.

The predetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about: ⅜inch. The ends of a customer's hair strands must pass through the hairextension hollow tube 16, when the hair extension strip 10 is attachedto the original, hair of a customer. The predetermined inner diameter isthe optimized size for serving this purpose.

The predetermined length is from about 1/16 to about ½ inch. Thepredetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 to 450human hair strands. The lower limit has been determined to increase theefficiency of producing the hair extension strip 10 and labor ofattaching the strips 10 to the original hair. The upper limit has beendetermined considering the adequate number of hair strands that can beembedded in one hair extension strip end piece 12, and natural look ofthe extended hair. If the number of the hair strands is more than 450,the hair extension strip becomes too bulky and the thermoplastic resincannot cover the entire hair strands.

The hair extension strip 10 is made by a process comprising steps ofaligning ends of a predetermined number of hair strands 14 (refer toFIG. 3); placing a centering rod 18 and a piece of thermoplastic resin20 having a predetermined weight around the aligned ends of the hairstrands (refer to FIG. 4); forming the hollow hair extension strip endpiece 12 by heating the resin piece 20 until the hair strands areembedded in the melted resin (refer to FIG. 5); and cooling the hairextension strip end piece 12 with the hair strands 14 embedded.

The centering rod 18 is removed after the hair extension strip end piece12 is formed. Heating of the resin piece 20 may be performed by directlyheating the centering rod 18, or indirectly heating the resin piece 20and the centering rod 18 by a separate heat source.

FIG. 6 shows that the hair strands 14 are embedded uniformly throughoutthe cross section of the hair extension hollow tube 16. Moltenthermoplastic resin permeates between the hair strands by capillaryaction during the step of forming the hollow hair extension strip endpiece 12. When the resin solidifies again the uniform distribution ofhair strands results. This process is repeated when the hair extensionstrip 10 is attached to the original hair of a customer. Thethermoplastic resin constituting the hair extension strip end piece 12is melted when heat is applied and permeates between the original hairof the customer and the decorative hair of the hair extension strip 10.When the resin is solidified again, the original hair and the decorativehair are uniformly fixed in solidified resin, which provides a firmattachment and natural look of the extend hair.

FIG. 7 shows that the centering rod 20 is circular and has apredetermined diameter D at its tip 21. The predetermined diameter D isfrom about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch. The predetermined diameter Dbecomes the inner diameter of the hair extension strip end piece 12 thusmade.

The centering rod 20 further includes a stop flange 22 that has a largerdiameter than the tip 21. The stop flange 22 facilitates forming thefree end of the hair extension hollow tube 16 (refer to FIG. 5).

The predetermined weight of the resin piece is from about 0.01 gram to0.04 gram. The predetermined amount of the resin has been determined toform adequate size of the hair extension strip end piece 12 for thepredetermined number of decorative hair strands 14.

The combination of material, size, and shape of the invention asexplained above provides the advantageous effects that production costof hair extension strips is substantially reduced; time required forcompleting hair extension is substantially reduced; the hair extensionwork becomes dramatically easier and precise; and the resulting hairextension is a lot more durable and provides a natural look.

FIG. 8 shows a hair extension tool 24 that is used to attach the hairextension strip 10 to the original hair of a customer. The hairextension tool 24 comprises a handle 26 and a hair guide 28 that issupported by the handle 26 and made of an elastic wire.

FIG. 9 shows a series of steps that are performed to align the hairextension strip 10 and the original hair with the hair extension tool 24and to fix them by melting the hair extension strip end piece andre-solidifying the molten thermoplastic resin. Since the ends of theoriginal hair are guided through the hair extension hollow tube with theaid of the hair extension tool, the extension work is greatly simplifiedand accurate compared to prior art, in which there is no closed curveguide as the hair extension hollow tube of the present invention. Thecross-sectional shape of the hair extension hollow tube 16 can be anyclosed curve including an oval or a rectangle. Multiple number of thehair extension strips 10 can be stacked on the handle of the hairextension tool 24, which increases the efficiency of hair extensionwork.

FIGS. 10 a-10 d show an alternative method for forming the hairextension strip. As shown in FIG. 10 a, ends of a predetermined numberof hair strands 14 are aligned, and melted thermoplastic resin 20 isapplied around the aligned ends of the hair strands 14 by dipping thehair strands into a glue pot 40 that contains molten thermoplastic resin20. FIG. 10 b shows that excess thermoplastic resin 20 is removed bysqueezing so that the amount of thermoplastic resin applied on the endsof the hair strands 14 is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram. FIGS.10 c and 10 d show that a hollow hair extension strip end piece 12 isformed by wrapping the hair strands 14 around a centering rod 18 andcooling the hair extension strip end piece 12 with the hair strandsembedded. FIG. 10 c shows the centering rod 18 is inserted into the endsof aligned hair strands 14 so that the ends of the hair strands 14 arewrapped around the centering rod 18. FIG. 10 d shows that the end of thehair extension strip end piece 12 so that the cut end has a flat crosssection.

1. A hair extension strip comprising: a) a hollow hair extension stripend piece; and b) a predetermined number of extension hair strands thatare embedded in the hair extension strip end piece.
 2. The hairextension of claim 1, wherein the hair extension strip end piece is madeof thermoplastic resin of predetermined amount.
 3. The hair extension ofclaim 2, wherein the hair extension strip end piece comprises a hairextension hollow tube having predetermined inner diameter andpredetermined length.
 4. The hair extension of claim 3, wherein thepredetermined inner diameter is from about 1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch. 5.The hair extension of claim 4, wherein the predetermined length is fromabout 1/16 to about ½ inch.
 6. The hair extension of claim 5, whereinthe predetermined number of extension hair strands is from about 200 toabout
 450. 7. The hair extension of claim 6, wherein the predeterminedamount of thermoplastic resin is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04gram.
 8. The hair extension of claim 3, wherein the predetermined numberof extension hair strands is from about 200 to
 450. 9. The hairextension of claim 8, wherein the predetermined amount of thermoplasticresin is from about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.
 10. A hair extensionstrip that is made by a process comprising steps of: a) aligning ends ofa predetermined number of hair strands; b) applying melted thethermoplastic resin around the aligned ends of the hair strands, c)forming a hollow hair extension strip end piece by wrapping the hairstrands around a centering rod; and d) cooling the hair extension stripend piece with the hair strands embedded.
 11. The hair extension ofclaim 10, wherein the predetermined number of extension hair strands isfrom about 200 to
 450. 12. The hair extension of claim 11, wherein thecentering rod is circular and has a predetermined diameter.
 13. The hairextension of claim 12, wherein the predetermined diameter is from about1/16 inch to about ⅜ inch.
 14. The hair extension of claim 13, furthercomprising step of removing excess thermoplastic resin so that theamount of thermoplastic resin applied on the ends of the hair strands isfrom about 0.01 gram to about 0.04 gram.
 15. The hair extension of claim14, further comprising step of cutting the end of the hair extensionstrip end piece whereby the cut end has a flat cross section.